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Post by kirby101 on Sept 19, 2024 9:31:04 GMT -5
Not when I was growing up in the 60s, not in NY. We "kids" were not al gung ho about Vietnam. And unless his group was the Young Republicans, I doubt they would all cheer him in. I know you think Stan wrote perfect dialog for all these characters, but it rang false. More a 50s hipster vibe, than the 60s generation. He was better with the Spidey quips and over the top villain-speak. The memories of relatives and friends who served in Vietnam--the perspectives (of the period in question) they have recalled over the decades is not "false" but reality. You can despise Lee as much as you like, but his characterization related to the service mirrors real people who were of age to serve. Were they East Coast College students?
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 19, 2024 10:02:43 GMT -5
I know Stan Lee had two daughters. They were a couple years younger than the Spider-man cast at this point in the title's history, but with the sliding-time scale for comic books, their ages probably caught up within a few years. Did Stan ever talk about how his kids, or their friends may have helped inform his perspective on the way he wrote his characters?
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 19, 2024 10:58:36 GMT -5
Stan's daughter Joan would've been 16 at the time ASM #46 was published. I know they had a contentious relationship later in life (she had mental and substance abuse issues) and I don't think he talked about her much in interviews. His other daughter, Jan, died in infancy.
Cei-U! I summon the family tragedy!
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 19, 2024 12:13:08 GMT -5
Stan's daughter Joan would've been 16 at the time ASM #46 was published. I know they had a contentious relationship later in life (she had mental and substance abuse issues) and I don't think he talked about her much in interviews. His other daughter, Jan, died in infancy. Cei-U! I summon the family tragedy! Thanks Cei-U. I didn't know that about Stan's daughters. I haven't read many interviews where he talked about things outside of the comicbook business
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Post by kirby101 on Sept 19, 2024 12:27:14 GMT -5
Outside of adoring his wife Joan, I don't think he talked much about his personal life. He was always talking about the comics he did, promoting and being a showman. (None of that meant derogatorily) When I think about it, you rarely see comic pros talk much about their personal lives in interviews. Mostly it's about the here books and the biz.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 19, 2024 17:37:33 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 47 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 187) “In the Hands of the Hunter!” Credits (as they appear in the comic): A Swinging, Super Special Spidey Saga, by Stan Lee and John Romita Lettering: Sam Rosen Coloring: Andy Yanchus Plot Synopsis: Kraven the Hunter is back, for revenge… against Norman Osborn(?) Comments: That’s an interesting cover, which is different from what I’d expect from John Romita. It seems almost like something Steve Ditko would design. The various Spider-man figures are reminiscent of the ones used on the cover of Amazing Spider-man Annual 2. I think I recognize one of the poses, so I assume the rest are also re-purposed from previous issues. I’m guessing sort of deadline problems required this cover to be put together in a hurry, but I think it turned out pretty good. This story opens up with flashbacks to earlier stories of Spider-man and Kraven’s battles. Once again John Romita gets to re-create scenes from old Steve Ditko comics. This time, there’s a bit of a twist, as a little creative, retroactive continuity establishes that it was Norman Osborn (posing as a go-between for his own alter-ego the Green Goblin) who hired Kraven to go after Spider-man. It’s not too clear if this was supposed to have happened during Kraven’s first appearance in ASM 15, or his last one in ASM 34. An editorial footnote from Stan Lee references both issues, but ASM Annual 1 doesn’t get mentioned at all. Regardless, this is just something to help get this plot moving, as Kraven, believing the Green Goblin to have perished, decides to go after Norman Osborn to collect the money he’s owed, The Green Goblin storyline wrapped-up a few issues back, but some characters are too good to waste. Not only does the Green Goblin appear via the aforementioned flashback scenes, but Norman Osborn pops by, before departing for a business trip, to visit to his son’s new apartment which he shares with Peter Parker. Norman has met Peter before, but thanks to the memory loss suffered at the end of issue 40, doesn’t recall their earlier encounter. This issue really does include as many supporting cast members as they could cram into these pages. Aunt May and Anna Watson, are shown settling in to their new shared home, with Mary Jane stopping by to liven things up in her usual manner. Meanwhile Gwen is busy arranging a send-off for Flash Thompson before he leaves for the army. Harry is still interested in dating Gwen and despite the comments he made last issue, it doesn’t seem that he is anything more to her than a casual friend, though he’s still in a bit of denial over that. Peter has shown an interest towards Gwen in prior issues, but now his attraction seems to have grown, and will develop even further in the upcoming issues. A quick trip to the Daily Bugle to drop off pictures of last issue’s adventure with the Shocker includes scenes with J. Jonah Jameson, Ned Leeds, and Betty Brant. John Jameson makes a brief appearance, talking to his father on the phone, and Frederick Foswell will show up later in the story too. His hunt for Norman Osborn, takes Kraven first to Osborn’s office, then to his mansion home in Westchester. Failing to find Norman, Kraven decides to go after Harry who is attending Flash Thompson’s going-away party at everyone’s favourite local soda parlor hangout, the Silver Spoon. The party offers John Romita the chance to demonstrate his talented skills as both Mary Jane and Gwen show up in elaborately designed outfits and show off their dance moves. Peter Parker has some impressive moves of his own, (but he better be careful otherwise someone might suspect he’s really Spider-man). When Kraven crashes the party and grabs Harry, Flash tries to intervene but is easily shunted aside. Peter ducks away and re-appears as Spider-man. I’m sure Flash doesn’t think twice about Spidey’s quick arrival. After all, why wouldn’t Spider-man already be there, to give his #1 fan a send-off he’ll never forget? Ned Leeds and Betty Brant were already in attendance at the party, but Jameson and Foswell get down to the party as quick as they can once they here about Spider-man and Kraven’s fight. Betty is concerned about Ned rushing into danger for the sake of a story, which is similar to how she felt all those times when Peter did the same. It’s also good to see Ned Leeds actually doing something as a reporter for a change, since up until now he’s usually just been around to contribute to this strip’s romantic sub-plots. As he’s no longer a romantic rival to Peter, his last few appearances have just had him hanging around the Daily Bugle to join Betty on her coffee breaks. The action in this issue is pretty good, and takes place at a work site across the street from the party where a building is being constructed. Since their last battle, Kraven has upgraded his arsenal to include ray-blasts which shoot out from his vest providing an added advantage against Spider-man’s agility and strength. I’m not sure if the addition of these gizmos push Kraven too much into standard sci-fi super-villain terrority. I know this gimmick comes up in one or two future stories, but eventually he goes back to his regular jungle-based weaponry. John Romita makes it look good of course. At least as good as you’d expect a villain who can fire lasers from his nipples to look! After Kraven’s earlier visit to Westchester, a phone call from the mansion’s butler alerts Norman Osborn about the danger. Hearing that Kraven is causing trouble in Midtown, Norman gets there as fast as he can. Through a pure stroke of luck, the fact that Norman Osborn cannot remember anything from his time as the Green Goblin, is enough to convince Kraven that he had some how been mistaken, and to leave the fight. Spider-man is still alive, but Kraven seems satisfied that his foe has been beaten. Jameson, as always, thinks Spider-man is to blame for everything that went down here today, but I like how Norman Osborn tries to set him straight! In this moment, out of these two guys, Norman probably seems the least likely to turn into a maniacal super-villain! The story ends with Peter and Flash saying their goodbyes on good terms, and shows just how much both these characters have matured Notable differences in the reprint: There’s a minor change to Sam Rosen’s contribution in the credits. An old Bullpen Bulletins page is reprinted here. The printing is faded in my copy, but it looks like it says it originally appeared in ASM 41, or more likely 47, but it’s not either of those. It’s from ASM 48 Post Office of the Past is included, with reprints of old letters commenting on this story. Jim Owsley, Editor. Adam Blaustein, Assistant Editor *Oh, and I double-checked. Deadpool doesn’t appear anywhere in this story! The timeline is safe! Personal anecdotes: I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but only cause it’s true. I didn’t read this story until the late 90s, in black-and-white as part of the Essential Spider-man collections, and this was my first time reading this in Marvel Tales. I knew there was a story about Norman Osborn hiring Kraven to go after Spider-man, but for some reason I thought it actually happened during Ditko’s run before the last Kraven appearance in some issue I hadn’t read. It wasn’t until I got to read the story that I realized that this was an early example of a retcon being introduced into the series.
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 19, 2024 18:18:27 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 45 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 185) “Spidey Smashes Out!” TASM #44--first reprinted in Marvel Tales #32 (November, 1971) along with TASM #43: Among many coloring alterations, note the jarring yellow sky replacing the more realistic hazy/cloud streaked sky of the original: . TASM #45--first reprinted in Marvel Tales #33 (February, 1972), with an altered cover from TASM #47 (more on that later): I've always enjoyed the Connors arc; his personal plight and struggle with his alter-ego were presented as a far more tragic situation than say, the other Marvel scientist dealing with a green, raging other half, and its through thesr pages that one could root against the villain, but not for his total defeat (or destruction), thanks to the work put into building the human struggle--again, more effectively than the Hulk of this period. Obviously, Romita knew how to execute action, but its fascinating to see how quickly he innovated--developing the Spider-Man brand of fighting / athleticism quite unique from any other superhero in comics, adding to his individuality, much in the way Colan would put his own interpretation of physicality on Daredevil. Another major shift in the maturation process, even from the tail end of the Ditko period; while Flash's ribbing of Peter continues, the childish bullying / hatred--once a hallmark of Flash's personality--has thawed to slow, semi-respect for his onetime rival. In short, they were not high school kids anymore. I always believed hapless Harry was rather naive in not seeing Mary Jane was not the relationship type he sought (off and on, because he's still interested in Gwen at this point), and even at this early stage, its just so clear the pair are not on the same emotional page. Once again, the story ends on a bleak note, but this can’t last forever can it? Check out that teaser for next issue! Well, bleak for Peter, somewhat hopeful for Connors. Regarding the teaser, Peter's parents would not be formally introduced / explored until The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4 from November of 1968.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Sept 20, 2024 6:43:45 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 44 -45 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 184) Catching up with my thoughts on these two issues... It’s kind of interesting that it took this long for the Lizard to make his comeback. The Lizard was one of this series’ earliest villains, who would go on to become a popular recurring member of Spidey’s rogues’ gallery, while also appearing in cartoons, movies and other media. I like the Lizard a fair bit. As I think I've said before, Curt Connors is a tragic figure insofar as his motives for inventing the Lizard serum were altruistic, but obviously they had terrible consequences. I particularly like how John Romita draws the Lizard too; he has elongated the creature's snout more than Steve Ditko's version and perhaps made him a bit better looking (you know, for a Lizard-man). Heh! Romita can't help himself – he even draws handsome Lizard-men! I would think that Connors' relationship with Spider-Man would've been unusual for the time, what with the hero being friends with one of his enemies like that. The dual nature of Connors/The Lizard makes for some great conflict for Spidey too, as he tries to defeat the monster, while also attempting to protect Connors' family and not harm Connors himself. As chance would have it, Dr. Curt Connors is at the train station at the same time as Peter awaiting the arrival of his wife Martha and son Billy, who have come to New York to visit him. I love Romita's artwork in the scene in Penn Station – and that splash-page on page 1 is gorgeous. This whole sequence is very memorable, with Connors' newly arrived family looking for him in the crowd of passengers, as he starts to metamorphosise into the Lizard and flees down a subway tunnel. Meanwhile, Peter Parker is bidding farewell to his Aunt May, who is going on vacation, when he spots a clearly distraught Mrs. Conners and her son Billy. Romita's art really brings these few pages to life. Interestingly, the art makes this look like the old Penn Station, which closed in 1963 or thereabouts. By 1966, when this comic was published, this beautiful building was in a partially demolished state. Wikipedia tells me that rail services did continue during demolition and the construction of the new station (apparently photographs of the day show passengers waiting for trains while the station was being demolished around them). But yeah, the station depicted here definitely looks like old Penn Station. Edit: I just read ASM #46 and when Peter goes back to the station again to meet Aunt May returning from her vacation, the narration explicitly states that this is the newly constructed Penn Station. But it really doesn't look like it in Romita's artwork. Here's a shot of the interior of the old Penn Station to compare with the scenes in issue #44… A trip to the Daily Bugle includes a brief appearance by Betty Brant, and a few panels with J. Jonah Jameson and Frederick Foswell. Foswell has his suspicions about Peter and his connection to Spider-man which he plans to pursue using his disguise as Patch. I really enjoy the whole sub-plot about Foswell having suspicions concerning how Peter gets so many great photographs of Spider-Man. The Silver Spoon café was mentioned a few issues back, and now provides the setting for this story’s obligatory appearance from the Empire State University cast of characters. Peter arrives at the café, where he meets up with Flash, Harry and Gwen, but the most significant moment is the arrival of Mary Jane. This group of characters will all play major roles in this era of Spidey stories, and here they all are on the same page together for the first time. Flash has seen MJ once before in ASM 25, but if he recognizes her, he doesn't mention it. That scene in the Silver Spoon with Peter, Gwen, Harry, Flash, and MJ is a classic. I love these kinds of teen drama moments and, as I think I said a page or two back, the Silver Spoon always looked like a cool place to hang out with your friends. During the course of the battle, Spider-man falls, injuring his arm. A doctor on the street manages to bandage him up, but now that Spider-man has been seen with a broken arm, Peter can’t go out in public. Except that in the next issue, he just thinks, "screw it!" and goes out anyway. I always felt like Spidey's injured arm was a pretty lame excuse for Peter not going out. It just smacks of Stan injecting some drama at the end of issue #44, even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Hence why Peter just throws caution to the wind and goes to university in the next issue. The action really picks up towards the middle of the story as Spider-man tracks the Lizard to a train yard where a traveling reptile exhibit is making its way to Philadelphia. The fight between Spider-man and the Lizard takes up a good amount of pages, and with his arm still injured and bandaged, our hero is fighting with a handicap. The Lizard attacks Spidey with an army of reptiles which he commands, providing the opportunity for some unique action. The big fight between Spider-man and the Lizard takes place atop a speeding train which is well choreographed and culminates inside an enclosed refrigerator car which provides the means by which the villain is defeated. Really fantastic art in this fight sequence – I love all the alligators and snakes escaping from the train car and coming towards Spidey. The panel where Spider-man is seen leaving the Connors family has empty word-balloons, for the reader to fill-in themselves. It’s a cute gimmick, but if you’re buying this as a back issue, check first to make sure no one has filled in the blanks! I'd love to know what the thinking was behind that panel. I mean, sure, it's a neat gimmick, but I've never seen anything else like this in a Marvel comic of the period. Myself, I think that if I bought a back issue and some kid back in the '60s had filled in his own dialogue, I'd be fascinated to see what they'd written. I'm not adverse to stuff like this in old comics: I see it as little bit of provenance or a tiny slice of history... and it's also kinda touching. Overall, these two issues are really fun, and Romita's artwork is lovely throughout. It's interesting to see Spidey having to fight with an injured arm, and the way he defeats the Lizard by tricking him into fighting in a refrigerated railway car is a nice example of Peter using his science smarts to defeat an enemy. The soap opera elements are also very enjoyable. I love how Stan is showing us how free and easy Mary Jane is. Seeing her casually accept Peter blowing off their date, with a minimum of drama, and then later her being seen out riding around with Harry Osborn without a care in the world sure is a big change from all the angst, recriminations, and hysterics we used to get with Betty Brant (and we still do get with Gwen Stacy, to a lesser extent). That MJ really is a groovy, '60s chick!
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 20, 2024 18:33:08 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 48 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 188) “The Wings of the Vulture!” Credits (as they appear in the comic): An Awesome Aggregation of Airborne Thrills by Stan Lee and Jazzy Johnny Romita Learnedly Lettered by Whammy Sammy Rosen Creatively Colored by Dandy Andy Yanchus Plot Synopsis: Spider-man battles the Vulture,… for the first time (?) ! Comments: It’s winter in New York City and Spider-man is swinging around town, on the lookout for Kraven the Hunter who is still on the loose. Spidey’s web-swinging takes him past Municipal Prison, where unbeknownst to him, an old foe is on his deathbed, and, at his side, a new foe is ready to be born! The Vulture is one of Spider-man’s oldest foes. His real name had not yet been revealed at the time this issue came out, but his successor is a fellow con named Blackie Drago. Blackie has arranged a fatal accident for the old-bird, as part of his scheme to take over as the new Vulture! I don’t really think Blackie Drago counts as a new super-villain created by John Romita the same way as the Rhino or the Shocker, but it’s still a new plot that hasn’t been seen in these pages before. The idea of new characters coming in and taking over the identity of an existing one has been done before, and will be done again, but this is the first for a Spider-man villain. . While Blackie Drago escapes from prison and begins his career as the new Vulture, the original lies on his deathbed, his final thoughts focused on the man who put him in prison, Spider-man. Actually it’s not too clear how the Vulture ended up in prison, since the last time we saw him in ASM 18 he was apparently free, but here he is. The Vulture’s memories of his previous battles with Spider-man allow John Romita to once again provide his own renditions of scenes from earlier Ditko stories. Peter Parker has caught a cold, from all that web-swinging in the cold winter weather and doesn’t even have the strength to concentrate on his school work. Not even Gwen Stacy’s new hairdo is enough to perk him up. Harry mentions that Gwen’s new hairdo is almost like the way Mary Jane wears hers, Gwen’s classic, iconic look has almost arrived, and the reason that’s provided for why she may have decided to change her hairstyle is a nice simple, but realistic touch. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Peter get sick. It’s happened several times throughout the series, and the most recent occurrence was not too long ago, only a few issues back. Despite his super-powers, Peter Parker is still susceptible to many of the things that regular people have to deal with, and that includes health problems. Of course, Peter being who he is, realizes that Spider-man can’t ignore his responsibilities, especially with villains like Kraven, and this new Vulture on the loose. He momentarily considers passing the job on to Daredevil, and even references a recent guest-appearance over in DD’s title where he fought the Stiltman. That’s a good plug for another Marvel title, and helps remind readers that these stories all take place in one big shared universe. . I like the addition of the helmet to the Vulture’s costume, and can’t really stand any of those scenes where he’s flying around without it. Blackie Drago says it’s for extra protection, and to make him look scarier. The original Vulture looks okay without the helmet since he was designed by Steve Ditko with that distinct bird-like head and face, but Drago, or anyone else wearing the costume, would need that little something extra. Otherwise, it’s just some weirdo in a bird suit. Speaking of the helmet, and since I forgot to mention this earlier, the cover does a good job hiding the fact that this isn’t the original Vulture. The villain is posed in such a way that you can’t see his head. Any readers looking at this on the rack would just assume this issue would feature a standard return appearance from one of Spider-man’s classic foes (albeit depicted by John Romita in his own amazing style). Spider-man’s pursuit of the new Vulture takes him to the George Washington Bridge where the villain has landed with a helpless victim! The fight takes up nearly half the issue, and there are lots of big panels, with the action shown from various high angles. There will be another more famous battle between Spider-man and one of his arch-foes atop a high bridge in a later issue, but I think this one is pretty cool. John Romita keeps things interesting with lots of exciting action poses for Spidey and his foe, and really does a good job showing how high up they are! Sam Rosen doesn’t add any whooshing wind sound-effects to the fight scene, but when I read these pages, I like to imagine that’s what we’d hear! While the fight is going on Mary Jane visits Peter and Harry’s new pad, bringing along her Aunt Anna as well as Aunt May. Mary Jane makes plans with Harry to join Peter at the Silver Spoon for a soda, assuming that’s where he would be. Unfortunately that has to wait, since Spider-man’s battle with the Vulture ends with the hero defeated and left to die atop a snow-covered rooftop . Notable differences in the reprint: As is usually the case with the Marvel Tales reprints, the cover is coloured with a brighter palette and loses the subtle shading on the figures. The brighter colours don't bother me too much, but the thing that I really like about the original cover is the way the Vulture’s wings overlap the title, and also a bit of the upper corner box where the issue number is. It almost gives the impression that the Vulture is swooping down into the cover. The Marvel Tales version has the wings contained within the Collector’s Item Classic border, and they are also overlapped by the title and a bit by Spider-man’s foot from the corner box image. Post Office of the Past is included, with reprints of old letters commenting on this story. Jim Owsley, Editor. Adam Blaustein, Assistant Editor The Vulture pin-up from Amazing Spider-man Annual 1 is reprinted here as a bonus. It’s the original Vulture, but still appropriate for this issue Personal anecdotes: I didn’t have this issue of Marvel Tales as a kid, so didn’t get to read the story until it was reprinted in black-and-white for the Essential Spider-man collection. This is the first time I read this Marvel Tales reprint version. I did have the next issue, so I had a pretty good idea what went down in this issue. Prior to reading that issue though, I didn’t actually realize there was more than one Vulture. The original Spider-man cartoon from the 1960s used this new version of the Vulture, though there was no indication in the cartoon that there had ever been another one. I was somewhat familiar with the original Vulture and knew he had a different look in the comic, but just assumed the cartoon made some creative alterations to his costume. similar to what they had done with other villains or even Spidey himself. In this cartoon they occasionally referred to him as Vulture-man. They did the same with the Lizard, making him Lizard-man. Glad they stopped short of calling our hero Spiderman-man!
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Post by kirby101 on Sept 21, 2024 1:09:13 GMT -5
Confessor , the train station in both ASM 44 and 46 look like Grand Central Terminal. Which I am sure Romita drew. Penn Station was rebuilt when the grand old Penn Station was demolished in one of the great architectural crimes of the 20th century. (It lead to the Landmark Commission in NY). The pic you posted is the old Penn Station. Stan, living in Long Island would come into Penn. But Romita has drawn them in Grand Central. Stan might just automatically think about Penn and not look at the background in the art. Whatever, it's a mistake on his part.
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 21, 2024 3:01:26 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 48 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 188) “The Wings of the Vulture!” TASM #48 had its first reprint in Marvel Tales #34 (April, 1972), replacing the Romita classic with Gil Kane's version. While Kane was a great Spider-Man artist, his Marvel Tales cover does not hold a conceptual candle to Romita's: They were not kidding. ...and quite the improvement in the execution of the flashback. I appreciated how detailed-oriented Lee was in building the characters; even something as "inconsequential" as a hair style change (on the surface) lets the reader understand that Peter's supporting players were living and breathing on their own (whether Peter's around or not), and not simply static plot points of the Silver Age Lois Lane & Jimmy Olsen variety. That's one of the odd traits of his spider powers: he's quite capable of being seriously injured, but he is able to recover in ways no ordinary huma would be able to at the same rate, if ever, yet his immunity to standard viruses did not get an "upgrade" with that spider's bite. Not that there's any hard rule for the specific limits of Spider-Man's altered genetics, but one would have imagined he would not be as susceptible to the ailments suffered by John and Jane Q. Public. Thanks for the Daredevil reference, and at this period of Marvel history, the world-building felt quite organic, with characters interacting, but were not so omnipresent that they their lives, experiences or locations only relevant to themselves was not absorbed into the "standing room only" Marvel universe to come. Agreed, but... Hawkman might have something to say to you about that. Agreed; it was great misdirection, and up to this point in Marvel Silver Age history, there was no expectation of another person taking on the identity of a known villain, aside from the Red Skull in the retconned WW2 Captain America stories in Tales of Suspense. I've always said Romita had a photographer's eye, as he played into the high-flying, vertigo-inducing action as a photographer would in trying to capture images from a rooftop or helicopter. Brilliant level of creativity. As always, Lee and Romita perfectly balanced the high-stakes Spider-Man side with the ever-interesting personal life; reader interest was not lost to either side, in the way too many Superman comics were written in a manner where kids would flip past the obligatory Daily Planet scenes and get right to the action, since the aforementioned location were rarely crafted to offer the reader anything worth his or her attention. Same old, same old, as the expression goes. ...yet its the brighter colors that nearly take the life out of an unforgettable cover. Speaking of the cover, the Spider-Man image would be seen again--later in 1967 as part of a two-page spread advertising ABC's then upcoming fall Saturday morning line-up, with two Maevel cartoons making their debut: Hanna-Barbera's The Fantastic Four, followed by Grantray-Lawrence's Spider-Man. The ad (and a modified, single full page version) would run across most Marvel titles in the fall of '67, with the programming line-up earning its own preview comic, but more on that at another time. As seen in the photo below, TASM #48's Spider-Man was flipped, then rotated, with a web line added: Needless to say, the ABC ad, with its strong presence of Marvel heroes was quite exciting to see, promising the well-known comic action would be captured in animated form, but the end-results were somewhat mixed.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 21, 2024 5:40:54 GMT -5
Speaking of the cover, the Spider-Man image would be seen again--later in 1967 as part of a two-page spread advertising ABC's then upcoming fall Saturday morning line-up, with two Maevel cartoons making their debut: Hanna-Barbera's The Fantastic Four, followed by Grantray-Lawrence's Spider-Man. The ad (and a modified, single full page version) would run across most Marvel titles in the fall of '67, with the programming line-up earning its own preview comic, but more on that at another time. As seen in the photo below, TASM #48's Spider-Man was flipped, then rotated, with a web line added: Needless to say, the ABC ad, with its strong presence of Marvel heroes was quite exciting to see, promising the well-known comic action would be captured in animated form, but the end-results were somewhat mixed. I was actually looking at that ad yesterday where it appears in an upcoming issue. I definitely recognized that as a John Romita drawing, but didn't make the connection that it was from the Vulture cover (even though I looked at that issue on the same day). thanks!
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Sept 21, 2024 8:59:36 GMT -5
More catching up... THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 46 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 186) I like the Shocker a fair bit and think his costume is very cool. That's a great cover image too: it's nicely composed and clearly shows us the destructive power that the Shocker can unleash, while Spidey leaps or swings out of harms way. Great stuff! By the way, I've read online (so take it with a pinch of salt), that the Shocker was originally going to be called "The Vibrator". That's why there's a "V" on his belt… Harry also makes a comment about calling up Gwen to double date with Peter and Mary Jane. Harry was out with MJ last issue, but Peter thinks to himself that Harry has been seeing a lot of Gwen lately. Eventually the usual arrangement will become Pete/Gwen, Harry/MJ, but I wonder if that was always the plan, or did Stan and/or Johnny have something else in mind before changing course? According to John Romita, he and Stan used to disagree during this period about whether Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane should be Peter Parker's girlfriend. Right from Mary Jane's first proper appearance in ASM #42 she was immediately popular with the readers; Marvel received lots of letters begging Stan to let her be Peter's girlfriend, along with requests for Mary Jane pin-up posters (and not necessarily the Comics Code-approved type of posters either!). Romita tended to agree with the fans that she should be Pete's GF. Stan, however, preferred Gwen as Peter's love interest and intended to use MJ as a way of making Gwen jealous of Peter. Stan instructed Romita to draw Gwen ever more gorgeously as time went on – even eventually giving her Mary Jane's hairstyle – but no matter what Stan and Romita did, the fans still preferred Mary Jane. It has even been suggested that one of the reasons that Stan and John gave MJ that ugly, shorter haircut in issue #64 was to put the fans off her and make Gwen the more glamourous of the pair. Frederick Foswell has become increasingly suspicious these last few issues, about Peter and his ability to deliver exclusive pics of Spider-man. Earlier in the issue when Peter drops by the Daily Bugle to deliver J. Jonah Jameson some photos of Spider-man’s first battle with the Shocker, Foswell takes advantage of the opportunity to do a little investigating in his other identity Patch. When Patch stumbles onto the truth about Spider-man and Peter, our hero manages to improvise a quick elaborate deception to convince him otherwise. This is a silly plan that would fit right in with any random silver-age comic published by Marvel’s Distinguished Competition, but it works. That scene where Peter talks to himself in two different voices and uses a hastily concocted web dummy of Spider-Man to throw Foswell off the scent is utterly ridiculous. I totally agree with you that this is the sort of thing I'd expect to see in concurrent DC comics of the era – not in Spider-Man. Still, it seems to work. Clearly Foswell isn't the hard-nosed investigative journalist we've been led to believe he is. The Shocker is the second new villain to be introduced during John Romita’s run. Romita wasn’t really as prolific as Ditko was when it came to coming up with new villains, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not like all of Ditko’s run had a new villain every issue. I like the villains Romita came up with, even if there weren’t that many… I like Romita's villains too – and let's not forget that the likes of the Rhino and the Shocker are actually Lee/Romita creations. The thing with the Lee/Romita villains though is that, enjoyable though they are, they aren't a patch on the best of Lee and Ditko's creations, like the Vulture, Doc Ock, the Sandman, the Green Goblin etc. I guess The Kingpin would be the only Lee/Romita villain to be up there with the best of those earlier villains. Unlike the last two issues, this one has a more optimistic tone to it. Not only is Spider-man back in full-fighting form, but he’s ready to move on to the next stage of his life. With Aunt May moving in to Mrs. Watson’s house, Peter is free to take up Harry on his offer to share an apartment close to campus It's great to see Peter getting his own place with Harry at last. We're really seeing Peter maturing and moving away from his earlier high school student characterisation. This is a cracking issue. As I said before, I like the Shocker and I think his "vibro-smashers" are a really unique weapon. I also think it's cool how he's able to vibrate himself enough that Spidey's blows slide off him. The scenes set at the Silver Spoon are fun as always, with Gwen dancing and MJ being less than impressed with her moves. All in all, this is a really fun comic, with lots of action, some gorgeous Romita art, a cool new villain, and a change to the status quo with Peter moving into his own pad with Harry.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 21, 2024 17:39:16 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 49 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 189) “From the Depths of Defeat!” Credits (as they appear in the comic): A Stan Lee and John Romita Action Epic Lettered by: Sam Rosen Colored by: Andy Yanchus Plot Synopsis: Who is Spider-man’s greatest foe? Kraven the Hunter and the Vulture will battle to the death for the right to claim that title! Comments: This story picks up where the last one ended, with Spider-man defeated and left for dead. As he lays in the snow, visions of his friends, loved ones and foes appear. There’s Jameson, Harry, Mary Jane, Aunt May, Kraven, the Vulture and, of course Gwen Stacy. This page marks the very first appearance of Gwen Stacy looking like, …well, Gwen Stacy! Gwen’s new hairdo debuted last issue, and she’s been shown wearing her headband in earlier issues, but here it all comes together for the first time. This is what Gwen looks like when I picture her. The hairband comes and goes from time to time, but this will pretty much become her signature look going forward. Though Spider-man’s predicament seemed dire at the end of last issue, he actually does manage to pull himself to his feet and make it home. A night of rest will be all that’s needed for him to get back to full strength. Kraven the Hunter returned a couple issues ago, but that story ended with him still at large. Since his last appearance, Kraven has been hanging around his jungle-themed hideout where a news broadcast informs him that New York’s deadliest menace is the Vulture. Kraven worked with the original Vulture as part of the Sinister Six a while back, and being the expert hunter he is, can probably tell that this is a new guy in the suit, but doesn’t say anything, nor seem to care. Not that it would really make much of a difference anyway, since villains fight amongst themselves just as often as super-heroes fight among each other. As much as Peter would like to get up out of bed, to go after his enemies, he finds himself stuck at home, with Aunt May and Anna Watson there playing nursemaid to him. With the Vulture on a crime-spree, Jameson wants his most reliable photographer out there taking pictures, but Harry manages to keep him off Peter’s back. Mary Jane and Gwen show up as well, but Harry quickly offers to escort them out of the apartment to give Peter the peace and quite he needs to recover. Right now, these kids are still just a group of friends, with no formal arrangement of who’s dating whom. It’s fun seeing Peter stuck in his apartment while Kraven and the Vulture fight it out across the city. Moving into his own place, Peter expected some level of freedom, but it seems no matter where he goes, that Parker-luck always follows. . Eventually Peter manages to sneak out of the apartment after Aunt May and Anna Watson doze off. Spider-man tracks his enemies to a special Explorers’ Exhibition with its own indoor jungle where Kraven has lured the Vulture. John Romita does a good job with the fight choreography, as Spidey fights both the Vulture and Kraven who are still in competition over the right to kill him. The Vulture gets zapped by Kraven’s special ray weapon which was introduced a couple issues ago. Kraven himself then gets taken down by a spider-powered punch, as strong as the one that knocked out the Hulk. Spider-man’s been fighting a lot of super-strong opponents these last few months, so he’s had loads of practice with this sort of thing. Spidey manages to snap a few photos of the Vulture and Kraven’s defeat and get back to the apartment before Aunt May and Mrs. Watson wake up. After a clean bill of health from Dr. Bromwell, Peter is free to take his two favourite old ladies out to a movie. This issue actually wraps things up pretty well. For once there don’t seem to be any lingering plot-lines, which means a fresh start for the following month’s milestone issue. Notable differences in the reprint: The cover on the Marvel Tales reprint has the usual re-colouring differences from the original. Both versions have the Vulture’s leg imposed above the logo. One of the same problems which occurred on the previous issue of Marvel Tales repeats itself here, with the Spider-man figure in the corner box overlapping a part of the Vulture’s wing with his foot. There’s a full page advertisement before the letters page, announcing the upcoming reprint of Amazing Spider-man 50 in the next issue of Marvel Tales. There’s a Post Office of the Past letters page reprinting old letters on this story. Jim Owsley, Editor. Adam Blaustein, Assistant Editor This page also includes a View From the Tenth Floor column by Adam Blaustein regarding next issue’s special reprint. After next issue, Marvel Tales will no longer continue with their consecutive reprints of Amazing Spider-man, but there’s no indication about that in this issue. A vague comment from Adam Blaustein mentions that Marvel Tales 191 will reprint the first Spider-man story Jim Owsley ever read, but doesn’t tell you what issue that was. Personal anecdotes: I didn’t get this Marvel Tales issue when it came out, but did get it pretty soon after as a back issue. A friend had a copy of it and was nice enough to let me borrow it. Even though I had already read it, I bought a copy for myself soon after. I’m not sure if that was because I really liked it, or maybe it just bugged me that my friend had a Spider-man comic that I didn’t!
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Sept 21, 2024 18:35:09 GMT -5
This story will always hold a special place in my heart. I missed getting the Marvel Tales reprint somehow, but made up for it by getting ASM #49 as a birthday gift shortly after. Still have it, one of the only comics I got in the 80s still in my collection
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